Newlabs
A forward-looking framework for research,
innovation, and wealth creation which moves beyond the existing
logjam with a series of "living labs" at its core.
Principles
1. A series of
laboratories taking advantage of talent, teamwork, and money to
invent and prototype new product concepts
2. Autonomous,
Meritocratic, Timely
3. Rooted in experience of
Xerox PARC, Bell Labs, DEC labs, Olivetti/AT&T Labs
Cambridge, lowRISC CIC
4. Complementary to
start-ups and universities
Concept
1. A series of
laboratories which carry out research and build fully engineered
prototypes and platforms, beyond what can be done in
universities, or is likely to be done in industry
2. People-driven and able
to attract top-talent from anywhere
3. Unbelievable truth
approach to selection of projects aimed at global challenges,
problems, opportunities
4. A procurer of congruent
projects in industry and universities in an ARPA-lite style
General
1. Mould-breaking for UK,
not incremental, continually taking (considered) risks
2. Vision-based sequence
of projects for each lab with tangible deliverables
3. Project choice and
execution by world-class individuals who are not subject to peer
review
4. Illusion of
unrestricted resources to empower individuals and teams
5. Use of money,
industrial assets, and teamwork to shift time and prototype
tomorrow’s concepts today
6. Freedom for individuals
to flex and explore new topics for part of the time
7. Example themes:
security, trust in digital systems, neural interfaces, AI,
synthetic biology, etc, etc
Governance / Funding
1. Not-for-profit entities
with their own Boards of Directors to give independence and
resilience - for example based on a Community Interest
Company structure
2. Cannot be bought
or sold because there are no shareholders
3. Partly government
funded - too risky for industry alone
4. Additional
contributions from large technology companies in cash and
through (mandatory or incentivized?) access to their computing
platforms, software, and data
5. Sector-specific
contributions from charitable foundations
6. Initial goal of (say) 4
labs, final scale of up to (say) 10 labs
7. Fixed lifetime for each
lab - eg 20 years
Personnel
1. Uniquely attractive to
top-talent in particular those with a penchant/experience of
working in between industry and academia
2. Flexible hierarchies to
ensure (early career) employees feel unencumbered
3. Additional personnel
(engineering, technology, support) employed and brought in/out
as required
4. Publication not the
leading indicator of success but used where appropriate
5. Freshness and rotation
by spinning out projects and companies together with associated
teams
6. Realistic pay scales
Operations
1. Each lab no bigger than
about 50 people
2. Potentially several
labs on one site with a permeable boundary between them
3. Outposts outside
traditional clusters wherever talent wishes to be, heavy use of
conferencing
Outcomes
1. Scaleable and robust
demonstrators and platforms
2. New business models
incorporating disruption of markets, capital pathways,
quantifiable global benefits, fiscal incentives
3. Minimal price and
simple rules for release of intellectual property but
use-it-or-it-recycles contract for recipients
4. Encouragement to
spin-out companies and teams
5. Establishment of a
managed "Digital Commons" which intrinsically can be made easily
available to anyone
Success
1. A good hit rate of
successful buck-the-trend solutions relevant to global
challenges, opportunities, and markets
2. A new framework for
creating/productizing/disseminating/reusing ideas and IP based
on minimal barriers (eg permissive licences, open source,
standard contracts) which is beyond the lock-down and hoarding
models of today
3. Maximum bang for the
buck by establishment of high-tech industrial clusters and
supply chains in UK
4. Communities with
know-how around each theme
5. A showcase environment
which creates narratives, stories, and leadership opportunities
for UK
Andy
Hopper
24 Feb 2024